Faith & Medicine

In a last ditch effort to resurrect this blog – here’s some wax, and I may catch some flak for this

Because practicing medicine without a license is a major offense in this country, but we all do it all the time!

Any time we recommend something to eat, something to drink, something to put into our bodies to change the way we feel, THAT is medicine – it is both science and faith in our selves, our chemistry to get right.

The reasoning behind the statement that herbalism isn’t science is both a blessing and a curse. Not being taken seriously allows us the freedom to cultivate what we love, to have conversations about our well-being, to develop relationships with the land and with each other. Giving recommendations as opposed to prescriptions allows a greater ease and closeness with ourselves and our health. We are able to actively participate in our health and attitudes. We are not shamed into identifying as our illnesses. There is a great difference between someone saying “I have diabetes” and “I am a diabetic”. There are some things you can overcome, there are others that will stay with you. Some health issues can be overcome with lifestyle changes, others cannot. Do not let science or faith dictate how you approach your healing process, though a combination of the 2 may do. Or not. Both avenues in isolation have been an incredible let down.

I find it unfair to be dismissed as a faith healer by scientists when a) I don’t heal by faith to begin with and b) science has not provided many answers with the complications it has set-up. Cancer is the biggest conundrum of them all, presently. In the past 14 months, I have witnessed more friends & family contract / succumb to cancer than any other time of my life. It is incredibly frustrating watching these dear people crumble under the disease and the side-effects of its treatments. While I don’t have the answers, I am more than willing to take what knowledge I have to alleviate the noxious effects of chemo and radiation ‘therapies’ and healing from surgeries. It would be foolish of me – not even as a herbalist, but as a friend & family member – to not want them to heal, to put all my faith in conventional medicine to help them along the avenues of healing. I make recommendations because I am concerned with the lack of syncretic healing in convention. I try to be as informed as possible and not make rash decisions as people’s lives are literally on the line at times.

These are the bases on which I hold my practice to, and they will strengthen with time. I want to help people, not because I feel any particular pleasure out of it (though it is fulfilling, helping people), but because when people come to me for advice on herbal remedies it is my “responsibility” to help them. Usually they are already trying conventional remedies, maybe they are disappointed, maybe they are looking for alternatives. Most cases are benign but serious enough to need outside help. To respond to these requests by scolding them for looking for seemingly unscientific help only increases the hardships herbalists have to deal with on an everyday basis.